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It took half an hour for Lu Yin to feed Ming Yan the bowl of porridge, but after that, Ming Yan’s complexion had become much rosier. Her appearance was so charming that Lu Yin could not resist leaning over and kissing her.
Ming Yan stared at Lu Yin with a chastising expression, but she was not actually angry. Lu Yin could see her eyes darting about, and they shone with a light that made her even more alluring than the stunning Madam Nalan, catching Lu Yin off guard. “Yan'er, you’re beautiful.”
Ming Yan’s heart trembled, and she was secretly delighted. She lowered her head. "Brother Lu, why are you here?”
Lu Yin hugged her tightly. “Of course it’s because I couldn’t bear to suffer from missing you. So, I came here to see you.”
Ming Yan struggled for a moment, but once she saw that Lu Yin only embraced her even more tightly, she could only allow him to do as he wished. "Brother Lu, do you know about Father’s situation?”
Lu Yin grunted in acknowledgement, and then he looked at Ming Yan in a serious manner. “Yan’er, tell me the truth: do you want to take over the Shenwu Empire? If you don’t, then I’ll help you take care of things here, and you’ll be able to go home with me and lead a worry-free life, just like before. Is that what you want?”
Ming Yan studied Lu Yin’s eyes and saw that the most gentle spot in her heart was warmly being held by him. He was offering her a lifetime’s promise, and realizing this caused her to blush. Just as she was about to agree without hesitation, a cough rang from outside the room. Ming Yan came to her senses, and she quickly pushed Lu Yin aside before quietly saying, “Father’s here.”
Lu Yin checked outside and saw that Ming Zhaoshu was staring at the sky with his hands clasped behind his back.
“How indiscreet.” Lu Yin was rather unhappy.
Ming Yan looked at him, her eyes pure and wide. "Brother Lu, he’s my father! You can’t say that.”
Lu Yin smiled apologetically. “That’s right, he’ll soon be my father-in-law. Sorry Yan'er, Brother Lu misspoke.”
Ming Yan pursed her lips. "Brother Lu, Father is very tired, and things must be very difficult for him.”
“Mm, I got it,” Lu Yin replied.
Ming Yan lowered her head. “Father wishes for me to inherit the throne of the Shenwu Empire.”
“What about you? What is it that you truly wish for?” Lu Yin asked earnestly.
Ming Yan’s head was still hung down as she recalled a few words that Ming Zhaoshu had said to her. She bit her lip before quietly answering, “I- I want to inherit the Shenwu Empire.”
Lu Yin moved his hand and raised her head as he looked at her with serious eyes. “Yan’er, Brother Lu promises that as long as you wish for it, nobody will be able to force you to carry these burdens.”
Ming Yan and Lu Yin stared at each other, and as they did, her gaze became more determined. “I wish to carry this burden.”
Lu Yin sighed. “You obviously don’t like to look at memos or handle administrative duties.”
“I’m sorry, Brother Lu.” Ming Yan was in agony.
Lu Yin touched her cheek. “Don’t apologize—you didn’t let anyone down, Yan'er. No matter what you decide to do, I will support you.”
Ming Yan clenched his hand tightly as she nervously asked, “Then, does Brother Lu not want Yan'er anymore?”
Lu Yin laughed and hugged her again, and this time, he refused to let go no matter how she struggled. “No! Yan'er is mine, and mine forever. No matter if you’re that carefree princess from the Reverent King’s Residence or the future empress, you’ll always belong to me, Lu Yin. You can’t run away.”
Ming Yan happily acknowledged his words. With this promise, she would be able to work hard and assume her responsibilities.
Suddenly, Lu Yin lowered his head and opened his mouth to nibble at her two tender lips. A sweet feeling seeped into his heart, and although Ming Yan was shocked by his behavior, she did not push him away. She closed her eyes and gave Lu Yin free reign.
After some time, Ming Zhaoshu coughed again, startling Ming Yan. She shoved Lu Yin away, her face flushed beet red. She then buried her entire body beneath a blanket and wouldn’t come out.
“Really indiscreet,” Lu Yin mumbled unhappily once more.
Lu Yin had originally planned to take Ming Yan away after this trip to Shenwu Continent, or at least help out as she took over her responsibilities. However, Ming Yan had made the decision to inherit the Shenwu Empire of her own accord.
Left without any other choice, Lu Yin kept Ming Yan company at the Reverent King’s Residence for two days before taking En Ya away due to Ming Zhaoshu’s relentless urging.
Ming Zhaoshu’s time was quite limited, and he wished to train Ming Yan on how to handle political affairs in his remaining time, as well as teach her details such as how to direct the councilors and oversee their matters.
“Your Highness, are you not happy?” En Ya asked Lu Yin.
Lu Yin shook his head. “Send some more people to be stationed in the Shenwu Empire.”
It was practically impossible for Ming Yan to take control of the Shenwu Empire in just half a year, but since she was determined to succeed, Lu Yin would not stop her. After half a year’s time passed and Ming Zhaoshu died, various problems would definitely start breaking out in the Shenwu Empire. At that time, he would make another visit, and stationing his own people there would allow him to receive news much earlier.
He was more worried about the poison that had been administered to Ming Zhaoshu. “En Ya, you can return first.”
“Your Highness, you aren’t going to leave with me?” En Ya asked.
Lu Yin’s gaze trembled, as he did not plan to leave quite yet. Since the person who had poisoned Ming Zhaoshu had not been discovered yet, it was impossible to know if they would also poison Ming Yan. Lu Yin was determined to find this person, and this was actually his primary objective during this trip to Shenwu Continent. He could not relax while such a dangerous person was roaming freely near Ming Yan.
First, he would check Qiong Island. Lu Yin ascended high into the sky until he towered above all, and when he looked down at Shanhai City, he could see rune lines all about the city. However, everything seemed normal, despite the fact that there were even a few whose rune lines equaled a Cruiser’s. One of these people was Ming Zhaoshu, and there were also a few people outside of the city. Next, he visited Liuguang City, which was north of Shanhai City.
With Lu Yin’s speed and scope of vision, it took just a day to cover the entirety of Qiong Island, and next was Ming Island.
After that, starting from Qiong Island, Lu Yin combed through Shenwu Continent island by island. He discovered that there were quite a few hidden experts scattered across the continent, which was something that he would not have discovered if he had not carefully searched through the continent. These people had mostly been left behind by the universe’s various powers, from both the Innerverse and Outerverse, to facilitate coordination between the natives and the trial takers. This was how people like Grandini Mavis and the Mavis family as a whole was able to control the Bank of Wuyun. Yue Xianzi, An Shaohua, and other powers like the Daynight clan all had experts hidden on Shenwu Continent.
Lu Yin conveniently marked down the locations of all of these hidden powerhouses. If Ming Yan truly wanted to inherit the Shenwu Empire, then this sort of information might be of use to her.
Ten days later, Lu Yin arrived at some unknown location that was quite far from Qiong Island. It seemed to be due north of the Shenwu Empire.
Beneath Lu Yin was a battlefield, which he had already been aware of before arriving. When Ming Zhaoshu had succeeded the throne and cooperated with the outsiders, many of the continent’s natives were dissatisfied, and there had been more than a hundred assassination attempts thus far. Many rebel armies had pretended to follow Ming Hao so that they could find an opportune moment to revolt.
As for these rebels, Lu Yin held no interest in them. However, this battlefield had an inexplicably large number of rune lines that had almost reached the level of a Hunter.
If there truly existed a Hunter on this battlefield, then such a battle would not have happened as even a Cruiser would be more than powerful enough to determine the outcome of this conflict. And yet, a Hunter’s rune lines had indeed appeared at this place, which was rather suspicious.
Lu Yin glanced across the battlefield, and his gaze eventually fixated on the bottom of a canyon that lay close to the battlefield. The air was filled with the stench of blood that also strangely emanated from underneath from that area.
Lu Yin vanished, and when he reappeared, he was already above the canyon. He saw the location of the rune lines, and then, he suddenly heard a roar in his ears.
He was very familiar with this particular roar, as it was the howl of zombies. He had found them.
Suddenly, a red arm reached out from inside of the canyon’s walls to grab at Lu Yin. The arm was at least ten meters long, and scarlet muscles rippled along it. It’s appearance was completely nauseating, and Lu Yin deftly evaded it before slashing his hand down to chop it apart. With his strength, he could even chop off a Hunter’s arm, but this red arm did not break after receiving his attack; only a tiny bit of the red flesh had been shaved off.
A great howl burst forth from inside the canyon, and it caused the soldiers on the battlefield to wail in anguish. Many soldiers even spat out blood and died on the spot.
Lu Yin rose into the sky as the canyon shattered beneath him. A hundred meter tall Corpse King with red flesh emerged, and its icy eyes stared at Lu Yin. It then leapt up and punched out with a fist.
The ground shattered, and the battlefield broke apart as the crowds of soldiers stared up at the hundred-meter tall monster in terror.
Lu Yin’s eyes flashed, and he raised his own fist to retaliate.
Boom!
A visible shockwave rippled out that warped the void, and a terrifying gale swept across the battlefield that rose into the sky.
The massive, hundred meter tall Corpse King was sent flying by Lu Yin’s fist, and even the monster’s fist was crushed.
Lu Yin was stunned. This Corpse King only had the strength of a Cruiser, but it had a rather terrifying physical body that could compare to one of the Daosource Sect’s mountain gate’s Shenjia Guardians and even slightly exceed the automatons.
Roar!
The giant Corpse King snarled and charged back at Lu Yin once again as it lashed out.
Lu Yin vanished and streaked through the void to suddenly appear atop the Corpse King’s head. He then pressed down with a palm. “Thirty Stacks Hundredfold Shockwave Palm.” With a horrible boom, the giant Corpse King stopped moving as Lu Yin’s palm had shoved the creature’s head down into its body cavity when the Overlaying Stacks exploded. Not only did his attack cause the Corpse King’s head to crack open, but fissures also appeared all over the monster’s chest as fresh blood fell from the sky in torrents, staining the battlefield.
Lu Yin glanced over at where the Hunter’s rune lines had previously been hidden. He had seen that those rune lines were a powerhouse’s, but that person had escaped the moment the giant Corpse King had charged out of the canyon. Lu Yin had pretended not to notice, as he wanted to see where this person would run to.
The canyon had completely collapsed, and Lu Yin’s domain quickly swept through it. The interior of the mountain had been hollowed out, and there was a giant lab in there, though it held nothing more than a dozen zombies.
His domain crushed down and reduced all of the zombies to puddles of blood. After that, Lu Yin concealed his aura and dashed after the powerhouse to give chase, using only his physical strength.
The Hunter’s rune lines shone like a bright light in the darkness, and Lu Yin could clearly see them. He did not need to approach this person, as just following them would be enough.
The Neohuman Alliance expert who had escaped could not have expected that Lu Yin would be able to keep up, and they eventually released their aura after covering some distance to increase their speed. Fortunately, Lu Yin’s physical strength was very powerful, and he had also unsealed his three grains of Fatesand, which allowed him to keep up with the fleeing powerhouse’s speed with just his physical strength.
Before long, Lu Yin entered a forested region where the Hunter’s rune lines had stopped.
Beneath the forest, there was a giant space that had been carved out in a similar manner to the dozen labs earlier. Quite a few zombies were held here, though they were not Corpse Kings that could swallow energy crystals to create innate gifts. These were only normal zombies.
One of the lab’s doors was open, and inside, Lu Yin saw a scene straight from hell.
The floor was covered with blood, and there was a giant zombie squatting in a corner, snarling.
“Another one again. This giant Corpse King can absorb blood to grow larger and stronger, but it cannot become intelligent. That’s fine. As long as I have intelligence, it’s fine! Hahaha!” A berserk laughter was heard that made the place’s ambience feel even more creepy. The laugh had come from a short old man with a waxy, yellow complexion, strange facial features, and hair that stood straight up.
Suddenly, a massive shadow covered the room, causing the short old man’s pupils to shrink. When he looked up, Lu Yin’s figure entered his sight.
“Ho- how did you chase me down?” The short old man was overwhelmed with shock.
Lu Yin did not bother replying, and he simply took out his pike to stab at the old man. The spiritual force attack enveloped the entire area, and even though the man had the power level of a Hunter, he was still dazed by this intense spiritual force and forced to faint for a moment. In that split second, the pike pierced through him, but it ended up being stopped by something, and it felt like it could not stab any further into the man’s body.
Lu Yin was astonished.